


five punch knock out

by I_write_fanfiction_sometimes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and he'll damn well get one, vaguely hostile acquaintances to grudging friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27594338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_write_fanfiction_sometimes/pseuds/I_write_fanfiction_sometimes
Summary: Five times Liam asked what he was doing, and one time the answer was 'being happy'
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 8
Kudos: 111





	five punch knock out

**Author's Note:**

> Yes! the title is stupid, but I'm having fun. sue me  
> Been a while since I watched Teen Wolf, and a while since I've read any fanfic as well, but let's just assume for the sake of my sanity that Theo lives in his car still and that I'm right about literally every reference I make.  
> Anyway! I'm back! Hopefully!  
> I hope you enjoy this quick piece :) <3

“What are you doing?” 

Theo squeezes his eyes shut and barely holds back a groan. Mint foam drips into the sink from the handle of his toothbrush and burns around the edge of his mouth. Of course it had to be Liam. Fucking Mason wouldn’t ask questions, he’d just walk right back out. Somehow though, Liam has decided he wasn’t scary. 

Footsteps come closer and Liam appears in the mirror behind him. 

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Theo finally grits out around a mouthful of toothpaste. 

“In the school bathroom?” 

There’s a suspicious edge to Liam’s voice that Theo actually does roll his eyes at. 

“Yeah, I didn’t get the chance to- before…” 

He pauses to rise and takes a moment to think of a suitable distraction. 

“What are you gonna do? Check my teeth for blood? Even chimeras have dental hygiene to take care of.” 

Liam bristles behind him and Theo mentally fist pumps. 

“You shouldn’t joke about that.” 

He laughs and wonders if Liam hears the brittle edge to it. 

“Why not? You guys seem determined to not let me forget it.” 

Liam is still silent and frowning when Theo shoves past him out of the bathroom. 

——

“—you doing?” 

Theo just barely hears the end of the sentence through his headphones, but, looking up, he can guess what the rest was. 

Liam strides toward him, a determined glint in his eyes and his hands stiff at his sides. 

“I’m studying. Like a normal person.”

“It’s an hour till school starts and you’re sitting outside it on your car.” 

“You’re here too.”

Liam's eyes narrow, but he ignores the bait and leans against the car beside Theo. Theo almost shoves him away, but his face is serious and he can’t bring himself to for some reason. He stares straight ahead instead, setting down his textbook. 

The silence drags on. 

“Are you here for a reason?” Theo finally asks. 

Liam’s face does something complicated and vaguely interesting. 

“You were right the other day.”

He can’t stop the incredulous laugh from breaking free. 

“How much did it cost you to admit that?” Theo can’t help but ask, maybe a bit of bitterness creeping into his tone. 

Liam rolls his eyes skyward and turns to look him right in the eyes. 

“We’ve been unfair. You saved my life, so. Thank you.”

Theo blinks. 

Liam grins, too bright and wide, and Theo finds he has nothing to say. Blue eyes sparkle mischievously at him and he snorts, looking away. 

“Didn’t think it would be that easy to get you to shut up, that wasn’t even a good apology,” Liam says, straightening and stepping back. 

Theo doesn’t know how to say it’s probably the first one he’s heard in years. 

So he doesn’t say anything as Liam walks away. 

——

The tension lifts a little after that interaction. Theo still doesn’t really speak to any of the ‘pack’ but they don’t glare at him passing in the halls either. 

He’s climbing into his car after school a few weeks later when he senses Liam approaching behind him. He straightens so fast he smacks his head on the door frame. Liam is watching with amusement when he finally turns around, still cursing under his breath. 

“You’re usually less clumsy,” he comments. 

Theo growls at him, but Liam just grins back. 

“What are you doing?” He asks, undeterred. 

Theo, who was planning on driving out to the one place in the entire godforsaken town that doesn’t kick him out for napping during the day, panics a bit. He’s managed to avoid the conversation about his life outside school for months and doesn’t understand why Now of all times. He’s running on three hours of sleep for god's sake; the streets had been so Loud last night (and his dreams even more so). 

“I was going back, uh, home. To sleep,” he trips out. 

Liam raises an eyebrow. 

“Are you sick? Because I can’t get sick, can you?” 

Theo coughs awkwardly. 

“I’m not sick.” 

“Mhmm.”

“Just-“ he waves his hands a bit, narrowly avoiding smacking one on the door, “dreams. You know, sleep trouble.”

Liam’s face softens a bit and he nods before stepping slightly closer. 

“I get it. We all have them,” he says. 

Then he reaches out and touches Theo’s arm. Warmth radiates through Theo’s entire body and he barely stops himself from stepping closer, anything to ease the sudden loneliness in his chest. 

A wolf without a pack, even a fake wolf, is a starved wolf, and Liam practically exudes calm and the promise of companionship. 

Liam’s eyes go calculating when Theo stiffens and he has to sink into his car before he does something stupid, like beg for Liam to never leave and to  _ please  _ keep touching him. The glint leaves Liam’s eyes as quickly as it came though and he doesn’t mention Theo’s weird behaviour, just leans down. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to join us for a movie,” he says. 

“Us?” Theo asks dumbly, his brain still rushing from the endorphins. 

“Yeah, Corey and Mason and me. Maybe Malia if we can convince her.” 

Theo shakes his head to clear it. This sounds like a terrible idea, a disaster waiting to happen. He says yes. 

——

Things get better after movie night. The whole thing goes suspiciously smoothly in Theo’s opinion. The only downside is that Liam takes to following him around, asking questions. 

“Where are you going after school?”   
“What are your plans?”

“What are you doing?” 

The last one happens (again) before school one day. The air is starting to get colder and it’s started waking Theo up at night, which explains why he slept through his alarm, but it’s still just his luck that Liam is there to see him rolling up his sleeping bag. 

He takes a minute to curse whatever being is responsible for his poor life choices and then turns around to look Liam in the eye. He hears the sleeping bag slither back open and knows that Liam is watching it behind him. 

“Have you been sleeping in your car?” he asks incredulously.

Theo opens his mouth to deny it but… he can’t, can he. He looks away instead. 

“Why are you sleeping in your car?” his eyes narrow and he peers past Theo into the back seat. 

“Why does it look like you’re keeping your closet in your car?”

Theo can feel his cheeks flushing, humiliation making his eyes shift a little as his heart rate picks up.

“Why do you think, Liam? It’s pretty fucking obvious,” he manages to grit out between sharp teeth. 

Liam blinks. His voice is soft when he speaks. 

“You live in your car? For how long?” 

Theo feels the knots in his back that don’t seem to ever go away anymore and his lips twist. 

“I don’t exactly have any family here,” he answers quietly. 

“The whole time?” 

If Theo didn’t know better he’d say that sounded like anger in Liam’s voice, anger not directed at him. 

“Since I came back, yeah.”

The silence goes on so long that Theo can’t help but scuff his feet on the ground. Then the bell rings and startles Liam out of his reverie. 

“Meet me after school,” is all he says before striding off to the building. 

Theo blinks after him and then shakes his head before turning around to shove his stupid sleeping bag into a crevice and slam his car door. He wants to scream; none of them were supposed to find out, he didn’t want the looks he was going to get now. 

Liam doesn’t speak to him all day, none of them do, but he sees them with their heads tucked together everywhere and knows they’re talking about him. They probably thought he deserved it, and honestly? Theo wasn’t sure he didn’t. 

He’s honestly not expecting Liam to be waiting for him when he finally extracts himself from his last class, but he’s leaning against the passenger side of his car with his arms crossed as Theo makes his way across the parking lot. 

“Took you long enough,” Liam calls, unfolding himself. 

Theo glares at him but unlocks the door anyway. He’s just glad he doesn’t have to clear out the passenger side, he doesn’t have enough stuff to take up that much room. 

They both slide into their seats and Theo sighs.    
“What are we doing,” he asks, defeated. 

“We, are going to go to Scott’s house to talk to Melissa.” 

Theo laughs.

“Seriously, what are you doing here.”

Liam’s face is serious though and he doesn’t say anything else. 

“No. I’m not going to ask her for anything! Why would she even agree?” Theo shakes his head, ignoring the prickle in his throat. 

“She let Isaac stay with them when he needed it,” Liam says stubbornly. 

“Isaac probably didn’t try to kill her son!”

“Actually…” 

Theo can’t stop himself from hissing out a shocked, “what?!” 

Liam grins, “There’s a lot you don’t know about what happened before you came back. Let’s go.”

Theo starts the car. 

——

Theo stands motionless in front of the bed. He can’t believe it was that easy. He doesn’t get things this easily. Certainly not from people who don’t want anything from him. All Scott’s mother had asked for was dinner cooked a couple of times a week and that he did his own laundry. 

Footsteps thud on the stairs and then Liam’s presence shifts the air in the doorway. 

“What are you doing?” he asks softly.

Theo shakes himself. 

“Nothing.”

Liam hums and falls silent. Theo can’t bring himself to face him. 

“Theo…” he starts, and then his hand in on Theo’s shoulder. 

Theo hunches. 

“You know that we’ve forgiven you, right? You have a place here, if you want it.”

There are tears burning his eyes and he wants to move away from the warm hand on his shoulder, but he physically can’t make his body move. 

“The whole pack agreed to this. I just thought you should know,” Liam continues softly when Theo doesn’t speak.

The air is too cold when Liam moves away. Theo turns and grabs the other boy’s arm. Liam looks up at him expectantly, his whole body relaxed even though this is  _ Theo  _ and he couldn’t be trusted-

“Thank you. For everything. I know you’re the reason they don’t hate me.”

Liam’s smile is too bright to look at. 

“Thank me by actually saying yes when I ask you to hang out with us.”

Somehow Theo doesn’t feel left behind when Liam leaves this time. 

——

It becomes normal to find Liam in Theo’s room (because it’s now Theo’s room, he’s finally started calling it that. It only took months). The pack members call Theo first if they can’t find Liam, and Theo can’t even be mad. It’s peaceful in a way Theo can’t remember ever being. 

They’re studying together today, Liam sprawled across Theo’s bed and Theo against the headboard. The room has been silent for the last half an hour but now Liam is shifting around. Theo lifts his head to growl at him, but it catches in his throat when his gaze snags on the skin of Liam’s abdomen where his hoodie has slid up from the wriggling. 

“Liam,” he croaks before clearing his throat. 

Liam’s eyes are amused when he blinks up at him.

“Yes?”

It’s been going like this for the last few weeks, the teasing, the smirk that Theo didn’t even know Liam could make, like he’s just waiting for Theo to figure things out. 

“Stop moving.”

“Why? What are you doing that’s so important?”

Liam flips over and squirms closer. It’s bad. So bad. Theo swallows and looks down at the numbers on his page but they’re melting together. Liam peers over his shoulder and snorts. 

“Math! You don’t need to study this, I’ve seen your marks.”

His body is one length of heat along Theo’s side, not quite touching, but the threat is there. 

This has been happening more too, the casual touches. Theo has almost stopped jumping every time Liam touches his arm or pats his back. 

“You’re being distracting,” he mumbles. 

He can’t say anything else because a moment later the book is knocked out of his hand (it makes a loud thud on the floor and if he could focus he’d probably be worried about bending the pages) and Liam is draped over his body. His whole body goes stiff and one hand comes up to squeeze Liam’s arm.

Liam makes a rumbling noise in his chest and Theo can’t help but look at him.    
“You’re okay, Theo, it’s just me,” he reassures quietly. 

The laugh that Theo hears himself make is strained. 

“Just you, right.”

He can’t fight the rush of endorphins he’s been missing forever though. Eventually, the wolf part of his body takes over and he melts into the contact. 

“When was the last time you took care of yourself, Theo?” Liam asks intently, “Have you ever let a pack take care of you like this?”

Theo can only shake his head numbly. He had no idea he was missing this much. His whole body feels relaxed in a way it pretty much never has, Liam’s warmth soaking in and soothing chills he hadn’t even been aware of. Liam wraps an arm across his waist and rests his chin on his chest. 

“There’s a reason that werewolves have packs, it’s not just about strength. We need this too.”

His eyes are so blue. 

Theo squeezes his eyes closed and lets his own arm wrap around to the back of Liam’s neck. Liam makes that rumbley noise again and Theo can’t help but smile. 

Liam is smiling softly at him when he opens his eyes. Theo squeezes the back of his neck and leans in to press their foreheads together.

“What are you doing?” Liam whispers. 

“I just- I thought- can I?” Theo asks, a bit embarrassed, but tilts his head anyway. 

Liam breathes out. 

“Certainly took you long enough.”

“Hey-!” 

Liam cuts him off by pressing their lips together. It’s not a long kiss, but Theo finds himself smiling too hard to continue. 

“You’re going to be a big sap about this aren’t you,” Liam mumbles fondly.

“Is this going to be a regular thing?” 

There’s uncertainty in his voice but Liam just laughs and kisses him again. 

“I don’t kiss just anyone, Theo, assuming that’s what you want.”

“I don’t kiss just anyone either. I do want this.” Theo replies, his smile so wide his face hurts.

Then he shoves Liam off the bed. Liam is laughing when his head pops up over the quilt.

“What was that for?” he asks, mock offended. 

“That was for my math book.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed it, hopefully there's more coming (of various fandoms)  
> Find me these places!  
> Main blog:[x](https://iwritefanfictionsometimes.tumblr.com/)  
> Tumblr post: [x](https://iwritefanfictionsometimes.tumblr.com/post/634984512158416896/five-punch-knock-out)


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